These traditional neighborhoods with residential courtyards and many small alleys exist all over China and are full of life and contrasts. The Hutongs near the Forbidden City were once reserved for very wealthy families, but after World War II, the communists came into power and expropriated the rich. Several, mostly poor, families moved into the grand residential compounds, paying very low rent. The neighborhoods became impoverished.
But in the 80s, some of the former owners were able to buy their houses back for a ton of money. This means that today, the extremely wealthy, complete with Mercedes and servants, live right next door to homes where up to 20 families are living without toilets or running water! That’s why you find public restrooms and water dispensers everywhere in the Hutongs.
In lots of other countries, the “rich” folks would have been robbed and their cars stolen long ago. Here, though, because of the constant surveillance, even a lone package left on a doorstep can sit there untouched for hours!